501 N Market St / Frederick MD

Many American mothers and grandmothers owned the bright red handled kitchen tools made by EKCO Company in Chicago during the 1950’s. After my Mom passed away, I came upon her old red handled eggbeater and started to discard it. Something stopped me. That old eggbeater was a connection with people and times now past. Since then, I have collected these tools and incorporated them in my still life paintings. In setting up still life paintings, I used the old tools and a lot of elbow grease to open cans, whip and peel ingredients. Elbow grease means vigorously applied physical labor and it takes time and muscle to get results using these tools. While these tools are old they can still get the job done and I see them as a humorous metaphor for my own aging process.

The show title “Elbow Grease” also refers to the physical work the artist undertakes in taking a painting from an idea to a hung painting. An artist exerts elbow grease to stretch canvas, gesso and sand painting surfaces, squeeze paint tubes, scrape and mix paint, and clean brushes. Framing requires hammering and drilling hanging hardware. Then the painting must be wrapped and transported before it is hung on the wall. All elbow grease.

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Artist's Bio